If you’ve ever had to do a clean installation of Windows or use the “Reset your PC” function, you’ll know the difference it can make to your PC. But with the Creators Update this week, Microsoft is rolling out a new way of doing things.
The option is being called “Fresh Start”, although the webpage designed to tell you more about the feature links to a FAQ about Windows Defender which doesn’t talk about resetting your PC at all.
For those who have downloaded the Creators Update early, however, you’ll find the new reset option in the Windows Defender Security Centre:
It doesn’t outline the difference between the reset tool added in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update and what’s been rolled into Windows Defender. For most people, it’ll probably mean actually using Windows Defender for a change.
According to the tool, the Fresh Start option will “your personal files and some Windows settings, and remove most of your apps, including Microsoft Office, third-party anti-virus software and desktop apps that came pre-installed on your device”. It sounds more or less the same as the faster of the two options you get when you reset your PC. The feature will also download the latest build of Windows 10 so you don’t have to run through Windows Update afterwards, which is nice.
The Creators Update, and the Anniversary Update before it, are so large and take so long that the process is a bit like reinstalling Windows anyway. And given that most people don’t format their PCs enough anyway, now’s a good chance to do it. The update will begin rolling out from tomorrow, but you can download it a day early (if you’re brave) through the official Windows blog.
Comments
5 responses to “You Can Reset Windows 10 Through Windows Defender Now”
If you have an nvidia video card, uninstall all the drivers for it before you do the update and reinstall after.
Otherwise it can muck up your system.
DDU always a great tool for that.
i call it a windows install disk/usb, much more easyer, and i dont have to use a virus(or anti-virus if you prefer, all it does is attract viruses so it get you to pay for it)
and if you exploring new site on your computer do it in a VM box or a spare computer, dont do it on your main.
there are tutorial to do vm boxs all over youtube if you need help or google it
That kind of thing makes me wary. How does it differentiate between “personal files” and applications. Will anything in my persona files that’s an exe get nuked, will anything that’s a .jpg in an application folder get left behind, etc. I trust nothing 😛